1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a walking stick, and more specifically, to a walking stick which offers stable support and shock resistance by restraining the instant movement of a sphere with the cooperation of a sliding-proof elastic element and a pivot connector.
2. Related Prior Art
A conventional walking stick assists a user who needs help to keep stable in walking. However, a single-mode walking stick cannot work well at all conditions of roads the user walks.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional walking stick 1 has a base 2 at its bottom for touching the ground. Since the base 2 is fixed to the main body of the walking stick 1 and cannot be bent or rotatable to a certain degree, the walking stick 1 can support the user on the flat road. However, it cannot work out on slant surfaces as shown in FIG. 2 because the walking stick itself is in a slant state as well and therefore fails to keep the user balanced. In the case of bumpy surfaces, the walking stick 1 may stand unstably, which easily makes the user fall down due to unbalance.
Some approaches have been attempted to solve the above problems. For example, a movable socket is added to the bottom of the walking stick where there is mounted a ball. The ball seats in a round groove of the socket so that it is allowed to rotate to a certain degree for application of various road conditions. However, the ball usually rotates too fast to hold the user in a balanced way when the socket tilts according to the road conditions, causing the user to easily fall down.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,348,531 recites a walking stick which has a spherical space at its bottom for the movement of two semi-spheres. A spring is located between the two semi-spheres. A leg extends downward from the above one of the two semi-spheres to slightly move according to the socket. The spring is not used for shock resistance but extend space between the two semi-spheres for movement instead, so that the two semi-spheres are limited to rotate. Even though the semi-spheres are limited in rotation, their high sensitivity in response to the orienting change of the spherical space relative to the semi-spheres brings instability to the user in use.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,453,742 discloses a walking stick having a ball at its bottom with a spring urging against the ball the bottom. The ball is received in a leg, using a spiral stud to urge against the ball so as to control the friction to the ball and thus the rotation of the ball. However, the spiral stud detaches from the ball sometimes, especially when the leg hits the ground, causing the ball freely rotates so that the walking stick fails to function to keep the user walking stably.
The present invention is therefore intended to obviate or at least alleviate the problems encountered in prior art.